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TECHNOLOGY

St Joseph's has a commitment to providing cross curricular information and communication learning throughout the whole school.

Every student has a computer at school. Students in Prep and Year 1 each have iPads and students in Year 2 to 6 each have laptops. The use of computers as learning tools in the classroom is enhancing learning outcomes and helping students engage in the process. It is also providing more opportunities for self-paced learning.

Starboards have been installed in classrooms across the school.

St Joseph's is very well resourced and is continually expanding its vast resources.

Every year level has a digital camera for class use.

Here is an example of what some of the students have been using their computers for:

Prep

The Prep students use iPads for Reading Eggs, which is an interactive reading program. The program helps the preps feel proud of their reading and motivates them to explore and learn. The Preps also use an interactive whiteboard for sight words and maths enhancement.

Year 1

The Year 1 students use iPads for reading and research. The students enjoy learning to use technology at school and this is a well-received learning activity for the students.

Year 2

The Year 2 students are use an interactive whiteboard for expanding on what they have recently learnt in the classroom about skip counting. The students engage in the lessons and really enjoy using the interactive whiteboard.

Year 3

Students in Year 3 are use their computers to publish written work. They access the internet to research special occasions and commemorations in Australia and other countries, and produce a researched document against a specified set of questions. For example, students researched Australia Day, The Bali Kite Festival, Chinese New Year, etc., and looked at the associated traditions, such as special commemorative food, costumes, decorations or activities associated with that day. Students also access iMaths, Study Ladder and Spelling City, which are all set up to correspond with their level of development in numeracy and literacy.

Year 4

Year 4 is currently learning about 'Rocks and Landforms' and 'Topography' under the topic of "Beneath Our Feet". Because the students have such a natural connection for this topic they are able to research their particular interest with passion by using their laptops and scanning internet sites for relevant information. This allows them to further compose descriptive reports about their selected study focus. In Word Study, students can access a variety of Educational activities on Spelling City – a Spelling website which helps students to practise phonetic patterns and new vocabulary. During Religion, students enjoy using iPads to record others acting out their versions of Jesus' parables. Students also enjoy filming interviews of each other talking about their novel recommendations.

Years 5 and 6

The Year 5 and 6 students use laptops for guided reading using a program called Pearson Places. The students enjoy the highly engaging narratives and interactive style of reading. The students use their laptops to practise their spelling words on Literacy Planet. The laptops are also used to undertake self-paced Indonesian language lessons online. The Year Six students use laptops to learn how to make column graphs in Excel during Maths.​

MATHS

At St Joseph’s, the Years 3 to 6 students engage in a Maths learning support process named Reteach and Enrich. The purpose of the process is to allocate time and extra teaching support three times a week to address the different levels of knowledge and skills of each student in Maths.

How it works:

• Each teacher teaches a Mathematics concept for one week.

• The teacher then gives a brief assessment and places children in two groups:

- Reteach: These children are given new experiences to lead towards Year level expected knowledge and skills for that particular concept.

- Enrich: These children are given consolidation and extension work to lead them towards being above the Year level expected knowledge and skills for the concept.

• In the following week, the children are given three 30 minute lessons being retaught (Reteach group) a concept or enriched (Enrich group) in their understanding of a concept.

When Reteach and Enrich happens:

• Each Year level has two teachers for the 30 minute period. One to take the Reteach group and one to take the Enrich group. This means that the Year 5/6 multi-age class has four teachers during this period as there is a need for four groups to cater for each of the two year levels.

• The teachers involved in Reteach and Enrich lessons send evidence of student progress to the classroom teacher at the end of each week.

• School Officers are also involved in supporting in classrooms during this time, working alongside a teacher in one of the groups.

Data collected from our Reteach and Enrich process showed significant growth in student achievement. The weekly data showed approximately 50% of all students went into each group each week (these are flexible groupings and change each week based on student assessment).

Following the week of Reteach or Enrich around 90% of students in the Reteach group were assessed as being at year level expectation against the Australian Curriculum. There was also significant growth in the Enrich group as they strengthened, deepened an applied their understanding. This process really allows our school to make time for every student in Maths.​